Elaine Evans Wilson.com

Strategic Business Plan – Dream, Plan, Act and Check

If you are a business owner, or are contemplating starting your own business, if you don’t
have a strategic business plan, you are destined to fail. The creation of a efficient and effective
business plan can mean the difference between having the need to work 70+ hours a week all
year long – only to find out that your business is only just breaking even, or even worse,
losing money.. Or being successful.

On the other end of the scale, many successful business owners and entrepreneurs who have
created and implemented a strategic business plan generally work for less hours, and produce a
more sizable income and profit margins. You will also find, that in general, those who are
successful with their own business, attribute their success to having a strategic plan.

So, we’ve discussed that having a good business strategy plan is essential, but what really
is “strategic business management”? In its most basic form, it’s the process in which the
goals and objectives for your business are defined, and an action plan is then created so
you may reach your goals and objectives.

You now know what it is. So how do you go about creating a strategic plan for your
business?

1) Any business owner should know, and be able to describe in detail, the vision for his or
her business. What’s the image that you want your business to have?

2) Any operating business should have clear and concise company values and guiding
principles. For instance, what are the reasons you are in business? Serve and protect?
And how do you do business? Do you treat your customers like royalty?

3) It would also be a good idea to create a 3 year and 5 year plan. Any business should
implement a long-term plan in which the basis is on broad objectives that will assist you
in getting your business from where it is today, to where you want your business to be.

4) Thinking not only long-term, but also short-term, will also greatly help your business
develop. Each year, you should create, define, and plan specific objectives that when
accomplished, will help you on the road to achieving your long-term goals. It is also worth
noting, then when setting and planning your annual goals, is pays to be wise and cautious. Make sure
your planning incorporates the following points:

- Be very specific
- Show measure
- Make the goals realistic and attainable
- Make sure they are time-oriented

Include a list of obstacles and barriers which could halt your success from achieving
your goals. In any case, getting to where you want your business to be, you’ll need
resources. Create and define a list of resources you’ve already got, and the other
resources which you will need to achieve your goals. At this point, you should also create
a concise action plan that clearly defines how you will actually achieve the necessary
goals. If your business has any employees, it may be appropriate to  involve them with
this part of the business planning process.

5) In your strategic business plan, you should create simple and concise milestones or benchmarks,
that will define when you have actually reached a goal or objective. This is an essential
part of the planning, as it will enable you to measure your progress as a business.

6) After you have created your strategic business plan, it is of paramount importance that
it is shared with anyone who will be involved in the process. Your annual business plan is
the blueprint which will lead your business and those involved, to the goals which need to be
achieved — but to be effective, everyone must end up at the same goals and objectives, the
“destination”, if you will. And to do so, everyone requires the same map.

7) It does not matter if you have a  well thought-out and planned strategic business plan, if you don’t
put it into action. You now have a means to begin your business journey; its time to start
it.

Be sure to regularly check and compare the progress of your business, to the benchmarks
defined in your strategic business plan.

If something should go wrong with your business, the sooner you figure out what went wrong,
or what is -happening- wrong, the sooner you can fix the problem, make the necessary
adjustments and get your business back on track.

9) And finally, ensure that each year you follow the exact same cycle to create your
strategic business plan. Dream, Plan, Act, Check. That’s all there is to it.

As a final comment, I’ll leave you with this. Creating a business strategy and ensuring
that you follow it, is not just about achieving specific goals and objectives. Its purpose
is to also make sure that the journey taken to these goals, is a safe and enjoyable
journey.

Having a safe trip is just as important as reaching your final destination.

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Email Marketing Tips for Your Online Business

The success of your email marketing campaign is often based on a set of complex factors. Let’s take a look at some of these factors.

1. Your list. Certainly one of the most important aspects of any email marketing campaign is your list.  Are your names recent?  Have they agreed to be sent e-mails?  Have they shown an interest in products or services similar to your own?

2. Your subject line.  Getting someone to open your message is very important to any email marketing campaign. The best way to determine what subject line works best is to break your emails into three random yet equal groups. Measure the response to each email and use the highest producing one as your control.  In follow up emails, try to beat the response rate of your control email.

3.  Your sender information. What information appears on the sender line of your email?  Will they recognize it?  Often times, emails are deleted without ever being opened due to an indiscernible sender name.  Your sender name should be brief and easily understood.

4. Make sure your unsubscribe method is in place and working. The CAN-SPAM act of 2003 requires that all email messages contain clear directions on how to opt-out from subsequent mailings. Provide an unsubscribe mechanism that allows those receiving your email to send you an email that  indicates their desire to opt-out from receiving further emails from you or your business.  If recipients no longer want to hear from you, it’s in your best interest to remove them from your list.

5. Have your call to action in several places.  Many readers are “scanners”.  They scan the e-mail from top to bottom and then back up the e-mail, so it is important to have your call to action(link to where you want them to go)  in different places in your e-mail.

No matter what your involvement with email marketing happens to be, it is essential that you test,test, test! After each email campaign document the specific date, time, list, subject line, and content used to produce your results.  Refer back to your documentation prior to your next campaign.  Email doesn’t have to be a complex form of marketing.

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Analyzing Website Traffic – Are You Doing This?

Analyzing  website traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for a number of different reasons.  But, before you can make full use of this tool, you need to understand how to interpret the data.

Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic information that you then can interpret and make pertinent use of.  However, the data you receive from your hosting company can be overwhelming if you don’t understand how to apply it to your particular business and website. Let’s start by examining the most basic data – the average visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

It would appear on the surface that the more traffic you see recorded, the better you can assume your website is doing, but this is an inaccurate perception.  You must also look at the behavior of your visitors once they come to your website to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your site.

There is often a great misconception about what is commonly known as “hits” and what is really effective, quality traffic to your site. Hits simply means the number of information requests received by the server.  If you think about the fact that a hit can simply equate to the number of graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblown the concept of hits can be.  For example, if your homepage has 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits, when in reality we are talking about a single visitor checking out a single page on your site.  As you can see, hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic.

The more visitors that come to your website, the more accurate your interpretation will become.  The greater the traffic is to your website, the more precise your analysis will be of overall trends in visitor behavior.  The smaller the number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitors can distort the analysis.

The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out how well or how poorly your site is working for your visitors.  One way to determine this is to find out how long on average your visitors spend on your site.  If the time spent is relatively brief, it usually indicates an underlying problem.  Then the challenge is to figure out what that problem is.

It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type of visitors to your website, or that your graphics are confusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exit rapidly.  Use the knowledge of how much time visitors are spending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, and after you fix those problems, continue to use time spent as a gauge of how effective your fix has been.

Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determine effective and ineffective areas of your website.  If you have a page that you believe is important, but visitors are exiting it rapidly, that page needs attention.  You could, for example, consider improving the link to this page by making the link more noticeable and enticing, or you could improve the look of the page or the ease that your visitors can access the necessary information on that page.

If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors are spending a lot of time on pages that you think are less important, you might consider moving some of your marketing focus to that particular page.

As you can see, these statistics will reveal vital information about the effectiveness of individual pages, and visitor habits and motivation.  This is essential information to any successful Internet marketing campaign.

Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a final order or contact form.  This is a page you can expect your visitor to exit rapidly.  However, not every visitor to your site is going to find exactly what he or she is looking for, so statistics may show you a number of different exit pages.  This is normal unless you notice a exit trend on a particular page that is not intended as an exit page. In the case that a significant percentage of visitors are exiting your website on a page not designed for that purpose, you must closely examine that particular page to discern what the problem is.  Once you pinpoint potential weaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content or graphic may have a significant impact on the keeping visitors moving through your site instead of exiting at the wrong page.

After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it’s time to turn to your keywords and phrases.  Notice if particular keywords are directing a specific type of visitor to your site.  The more targeted the visitor – meaning that they find what they are looking for on your site, and even better, fill out your contact form or make a purchase – the more valuable that keyword is.

However, if you find a large number of visitors are being directed – or should I say misdirected – to your site by a particular keyword or phrase, that keyword demands adjustment.  Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitors to your site.  Close analysis of the keywords your visitors are using to find your site will give you a vital understanding of your visitor’s needs.

Finally, if you notice that users are finding your website by typing in your name, it means you have achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is what you want.

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Online Marketing Strategies – Are You Using These?

I’ve been looking at websites since 1995 and I can tell you there are things I liked and disliked about them. There is no doubt that there are things that attract people and there are things that will cause your visitor to lose interest.

I have made a list of 10 tips that can help your website. Most of them are simple but quite effective at making your site more user friendly.

1. Make your site simple – With all of the bells and whistles available, some websites may seem impressive.  They may be attractive, but make sure the great content is there.

2. Make sure your site loads quickly – You do not have long to grab your reader’s attention. If your site takes too long to load, you will lose a lot of potential readers without even giving your site a chance.

3. Don’t have too many items on one page – You do not want to confuse your visitors. You want to make sure that they understand the purpose of your site. Too many items on one page can make this difficult for some.  Make all of your pages simple.

4. Link non-action pages to the home page.  Make sure every page that does not have an action item on it links to your home page.  That will give your visitor another chance to visit other parts of your website.

5. Get your own domain name – Free servers are great for some things but trying to gain credibility in a business is not one of them. It is well worth the price to get your own domain name.

6. Make sure your hosting service has c-panel and offers technical support.   24/7/365 Technical Support is the best.  This is the place that you want to pick wisely.  Make sure the service offers the things you need before you choose and save a lot of headaches down the road.

7. Offer free information on your site – You will want to offer some type of free material on your site. Free material such as courses are a very good way to build yourself as an expert in the eyes of your visitor. Free ebooks are another good thing to offer. Make sure these freebies are good solid information that can help your visitors.

8. Get your visitor’s email address – You can accomplish this in quite a few different ways. Giving away the courses or ebooks is one great way. You can publish a newsletter  that your visitors can sign up for on your site.

9. Make sure to build your site with a purpose in mind – If you are trying to sell a product on your site, then sell that product. If you are just trying to get addresses then make that your purpose when building your site.

10. Encourage feedback – Your visitor’s opinions are important. Offer him the chance to provide you with feedback. Evaluate and be willing to make changes if you start hearing some of the same opinions from your visitors.

Your website is one very important component that will determine if you are a marketing success. Make sure that you make your website user friendly. Also make sure that you don’t lose sight of the purpose of your site. Keep your readers wants in mind as you design your website.

Feel free to express your thoughts in the comment section.

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What is a Blog?

What is a blog?   While at a breakfast meeting last week someone asked me that question.  My immediate thought was “It’s a place to stay in contact with your readers.”  We were not able to finish our conversation about a blog so a decision was made to write a multi-part series on blogs.

Your blog is the place(website) where you write what you are willing to share with your readers.  So what is the purpose of having a blog?  Here are some of the common reasons:

1. You can share some of your expertise(good content)in your niche(business,hobby).  This helps build your credibility. You want the reader to feel like they learned something in your post(article).  They value their time so make your article worth their stay on your website.

2. If you want to have an interactive website then have a comment section after a blog post. It is a great way to connect with your readers.  They can express their opinions about your blog, add additonal information and can ask questions about the content.  This is excellent for customer “feedback”.   If you do decide to have a comment section on your blog then make sure you have a spam filter.

3. Some people like to share their personal lives with the world so they have a personal blog or diary.  This form of blog was the first one online.

As you can see a blog can be very powerful because you can connect with your visitors and receive feedback.  So, what is the purpose of a blog to you?

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Creating an Online Business Website with WordPress

WordPress is a software platform for a website or blog. The best part is that it is free(no license fee). With each new version it becomes more user friendly. Installing plugins, widgets and themes is so much easier today than it ever has been.  According to wordpress.org, the WordPress software has been downloaded over 25 million times.  This should tell you something.

Plugins for WordPress  can skillfully optimize the WordPress software.  There are many free ones and they easy to install. These plugins such as “All In One Seo Pack” helps with search engine optimization, “Askimet” filters most of the spam on comments and “Google Analytics for WordPress” analyzes your visitors statistics.  There are thousands of plugins, but too many plugins can slow your website down.

A web widget is described as a stand alone mini application which will add certain functions to your website.  Two common widgets are “Recent Comments” that displays the most recent comments and “Recent Posts” shows the most recent posts.

WordPress comes with a default theme. You can also search and find thousands of themes that can be used with WordPress.  You can spend days looking for a theme.  They are simple to install and activate.

I have spent a lot of time searching for the best theme to use on my wordpress sites.  The best one I use is called Marketer CMS.  This theme opens the internet to anyone. Not only does it supply you with a blogging platform, but it gives you the ability to perform like a webmaster and develop optin pages, sales pages, and much more. I like this theme so much that I am in the process of installing it on all of my sites.  You do not need a webmaster to change the wording on a sales letter.  You can change it right there in the theme.

After downloading the  Marketer CMS theme I went through every part of it, mapped it out and asked their support team questions. They replied with prompt and informative answers.

Then, I attended Armand Morin’s Success Leaves Traces event in Los Angelos, California.  During the two day event I asked him about his Marketer CMS.  He was gracious enough to answer all of my questions. He also informed me that he is working on new features in the upcoming revised release of Marketer CMS.  He listens to what you want. Can’t get any better than that!

Update: The new revised release is out and I am learning the features.  The theme even has video tutorials!

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Short Term Goals and Plans – Are They Succeeding, Rewarding & Timely?

Imagine yourself in the future. Obtaining what you desire and where you want to be!  How do you do that?  The place to start is to write your goals on paper and then write a plan on how to achieve them.

There are many categories of goals such as educational, financial, career, relaxation and spiritual.  To prevent being overwhelmed you must prioritize these goals.  Work on the most important ones first.

To achieve your written goals you must measure your progress periodically.

One suggestion is to review your goals monthly and evaluate.  With the information from these monthly reviews you can adjust your plan accordingly.

Does your plan have the necessary tools to succeed?

As an example, if your goal is be healthier by eating more nutritious food, your plan should include a tool such as a grocery list. Plan what you need before you go to the store and purchase only what is on that list.

Are there timely rewards for achieving steps towards your goal?

This can be motivating!  One of my goals last year was to become a better writer.  At the end of last year there was a reward for having fewer “red marks” on my papers!

Does your plan include time management?

For example:  Keep a time log.  If it takes longer to do a scheduled two hour blog post, then ask yourself why?  Were there too many interruptions or distractions?  What can you do to prevent them?

Does your plan include resources for help?

If you are not meeting your goals and not able to resolve the issues, you may need to go to your planned help. These resources should include professional coaches and mentors.

Are you receiving unconditional encouragement?

If you tell your friends or co-workers about your goal, do they give you unconditional encouragement?  If not, then your plan should include sources of support such as mastermind groups, coaches or mentors.

Is your goal and plan too large to be accomplished in the time allotted?

Remember that the key to setting goals is to set achievable goals.  Adjust the time frame as needed.

As you can see there are many facets to goals. The secret to achieving your goal is the plan.  Write down your goal and then write out a plan to achieve that goal.  Provide a reward upon completion of each step.  (A reward within your budget of time and money!)

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Build an Online Business – Action, Tracking and the Mind Game

Build an Online Business   - Action, Tracking and the Mind Game

There are many aspects to building an online business.  In this blog post I will deal with three subjects that immediately come to mind.  They are taking action, tracking and the mind game.

Action is the Key:

Taking action is at the top of the list.  There are so many distractions that result in no action; such as reading every e-mail, buying every product for your business that is marketed to you and spending too much time on social media sites.  It is essential to spend time reading important e-mails, that is something you need to do.  You do not have to purchase every product that is marketed to you, but the necessary products you buy you need to spend time to implement them.  When connecting with social media you need to limit the amount of time you spend on these sites. If you were at an 8-5 corporate world office, would your boss let you spend 2 hours on Facebook?  I don’t think so!

Analytics Tracking:

If you are not tracking your visitors to your web pages then you might be “throwing money to the wind”.   Your time and advertising dollars need to be studied.   Today you can track which pages attract a visitor and the average time spent on the site. Also, you can find out how they found your page and how many click throughs your page generates.  At the very minimum you need to sign up for and install the free Google Analytics.  If you are not comfortable adding the Google Analytics tracking code, then have a webmaster do it for you.

The Mind Game:

There are so many aspects of business that can play with your mind!  Even a small setback can really get you off tract, but I always have to remind myself that a failure is an opportunity for growth!  I like to remind myself of the famous Henry Ford quote:

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”

~ Henry Ford

If you have questions about building an online business register for free at http://askelainequestions.com for the next teleseminar!

Elaine Evans Wilson

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Teleseminar – A Teleconference That is an Excellent Way to Connect

Teleseminars, sometimes called teleconferences,  are a way to open a dialogue to connect with people. Whether you are a new or a seasoned online business professional, a teleseminar can have many benefits.

When you do teleseminars people can hear your voice. The audience can learn so much about you when your voice is heard; it reveals your passion and dedication. There is something magical about hearing someone talk from the heart.

In addition, teleseminars are a way to open a more relaxed dialogue with your attendees and a way for them to connect with you.   When you take live questions from the audience you are making yourself available to give immediate feedback to their concerns. Open dialogue helps you improve future teleseminars by revealing the needs and wants of your audience.

Furthermore, as a budgeting concern, teleseminars are inexpensive to produce. They do not require any additional expensive equipment. All you need to produce one is a telephone and a free subscription to a conference call service. Consequently, this minimal expense can easily fit into the budget of any online business.

You can also record your teleseminars and turn the audio into various products. This is called repurposing content and will be the subject of a future blog post.

As you can see, teleseminars are a fantastic form of communication. Your listeners can get to know you, they can interact with you and this dialogue is priceless. Teleseminars are affordable and their valuable content offers more opportunities.  So, what are you waiting for?

Elaine Evans Wilson has a weekly free teleseminar to ask questions about an online business.  Sign up at www.askelainequestions.com

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Ask Elaine Questions Teleseminar – A place to ask your internet marketing questions!

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